Accessibility Links

Eight tonnes of cocaine seized on banana farm

James Hider

May 17 2016, 12:01am, The Times

President Santos said on Twitter that it was the biggest haul of cocaine to have been made in ColombiaColombian Police/Reuters

Colombia has made its biggest cocaine bust, seizing almost eight tonnes of the drug on a banana plantation in the northwest of the country. The haul was estimated to have a street value of about $250 million.

Police commandos swooped on a farm near the border with Panama that they said was being used by the notorious Usuga Clan, the country’s leading trafficking cartel, which emerged from disbanded right-wing military groups that once fought Marxist guerrillas.

President Santos said on Twitter that it was the biggest haul of cocaine to have been made in Colombia, which is the world’s leading producer of coca paste, from which the refined powder is made. Officials said that 1.5 tonnes of the drug was already bagged and ready for…

Want to read more?

Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.